Harry Potter books VS movies

Okay... who here's seen all the movies as well as read all the books?

Comments? Suggestions? Criitiques?

I would just love to say that, like most other book turned movie deals, I was disappointed with the movies. But then again, there's so much for people to cover in those stories.

I loved the movies and I can't wait for the rest... I just prefer the books

Also... has anybody noticed that people's attention spans are seriously wavering? I mean... most movies are like... an hour and a half. I remember when I was a kid that 'feature length' actually meant a good two hours of entertainment.

And now two hour movies are 'epics'. What's with that?

it just another example that no movie will ever be better then the book it was made from. Like Beowulf, i enjoyed the movie, but it just cant compare to the poem.

I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books at all, but my husband has. I think we have all the books, so I have no excuse

I've seen all of the movies. They're definately fun and they get progressively darker, just like the books, (according to my husband.).

Though I have to agree with Akaron. The movie will almost always never be as good as the book. It's hard to capture the essence of the written word and the author's imagination and translate that to the screen. I've avoided Beowulf for this reason, (but I'm sure my husband will insist we see it!). I just can't watch while they potentially mess up a classic

The only notable book-to-screen movie that I can think of that was good in recent years would be Lord of the Rings. So much care was put into it--so much care *had* to be put into it or the fans would go nuts

But I digress

Since I always got the synopsis from my husband everytime he read a Harry Potter book, it occured to me that it's one of the few books series that:

a) appealed to both adults and children

And

b) "grew up" with children in that it grew progressively darker and dealt with progressively mature themes as the series went on. It didn't stay "kiddie" as the stories went. It got pretty heavy at points. Which is pretty cool. You don't see that too much in most children's book series. Though I imagine Harry Potter will set the bar now in this as well as other things. Take The Golden Compass, for example.

Okie--I'll get off my soap box now. Just some Food for Thought

I agree exactly. With both of you.

Though I haven't seen Beowulf, so no spoilers there please

I'm never afraid to actually watch movies that will potentially 'ruin' storylines and the like. Like all people with a good imagination I have the ability to suspend reality (even unreality) and just go with the flow. But when comparing, which I find usually leads into arguments, I find that the movies are almost always lacking.

Being a huge LOTR fan myself, I was impressed by Jackson's take on things. Though I may not necessarily agree with some of the things he did, I agree that the movies were of an epic nature. And I personally loved them.

We don't get the Golden Compass until boxing here over here. And I haven't actually read the books. Sounds like it could be somethng good... though for some reason I don't usually go for books like that. *shrug*

And E, if you ever get the chance even for a little bit of leisurely reading, please do read the Harry Potter series. Its fantastic and if you love the movies, you'll love the book even more. There's so much more back story to it

But I'm sure your husband has already told you that

Another thing that surprised me was Eragon. I read the book after I watched the movie and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of detail in the book. Thusly though, I was disappointed in the movie in terms of comparison.

But I will always and have always enjoyed the movie. Though I hated the lead! Urgh!

im a fan of jeremy irons. hes cool as hell. though the book was far superior to the movie. Beowulf was good, i think youll enjoy it

*Note: Edited for spelling purposes.

I have read all the books and seen all the movies to date.

The movies have gotten more and more disapointing and anti-climatic IMHO, but you are right when you say that there is so much going on that the directors cannot cover it all.

In fact, that's been my biggest critique with the movies. In order to keep with the 'bare bones' of the plot between Harry and Voldemort, just about everyone esle has become a bit player, some have even become little more than cameo appearances.

There are huge tracts of back stories, side quests and different personas that are just wiped away in order to stick with Harry. Worse still, alot of the 'how' and 'why' things happen are lost too.

Are they good movies? Definatly yes.

Are the books better? Hell yes and worth the read!

I completely and utterly agree. By themselves, the movies are sweet, but as a comparison between them and books, the books most definitely win out.

I find that when people who haven't read the books watch the movie, they're always asking me what's going on. The directers have done a wonderful job, as best as they could do, but you're right. The 'hows' and 'whys' are often lost.

I really look forward to the rest of the movies as there are some awesome cinematic pieces in the books that I'd love to see, but at the same time, I cringe at how hard it will become to do it because most of the things left out in the movies were critical in the plotlines of the next books.

They really should have waited until JK had written all the books and planned it out a little better I think.

I can't imagine that JK Rowling wasn't consulting with her films to some degree. I think there just wasn't enough time alotted to actually make the movie as it should have been.

Eragon was another one, The movie was 'ok' but a massive disapointment having read the book first.

I purposely read the book second, as I knew that there would be so much more that wasn't in the movie. Rather than making the movie seem lacking... I tried to make the book more 'informative'. It worked

Actually Angelus was the one that got me into reading the Inheritance books... I kinda avoided them but he said they were great and we like the same things so I took a stab at it... and well... now I'm impatiently waiting for the clincher, the third